What Might Have Been
by Emi-Chan1
Summary: What would have happened if Declan *had* gotten the courage to ask Peggy out back in college?


Don't ask me why I've decided not to write this until now, especially since it has nothing to do with the second season, but when I gotta write, I gotta write. This one is another one that's based on Twins (goodness, I could have written this a *long* time ago). The question has come up ... what would have happened if Declan *did* ask Peggy out in college? This one's my answer :) Oh, and I'm using a little snippet of dialogue that DebC created whe we were speculating what would have happened if Declan had asked Peggy out. I think it's really cute :) Thanks, Deb!  
  
  
Declan couldn't believe his luck. There she was, just down the street, the curly haired girl from Dr. Hess's class.  
  
'Here's your chance.' he said to himself, 'It's now or never.'  
  
Declan started to walk a little faster to catch up to her and he almost fell when he tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. When he did catch up to her, he felt a sudden case of the jitters come over him. Gathering up his courage, he reached out his hand and tapped her on her shoulder.  
  
She turned around to face him and he saw her up close for the very first time. She was even more beautiful than before.  
  
Declan swallowed, "Ummm ... hi." He started awkwardly, "I'm Declan. We're in Dr. Hess's class together?"  
  
She nodded, her silky black curls bouncing up and down.  
  
Declan had to struggle to keep himself from staring. He looked down. Making eye contact with her made him too nervous. He was instead distracted by the bag of potato chips in his hands. "I was kind of wondering if... ummm..." He faltered again and glanced back up at her. She was just so beautiful. He cleared his throat and finally managed to say, "Would you like to grab some lunch?"  
  
"With you?" she asked, a smile playing on her lips.  
  
Declan felt the sudden urge to bang his head on the nearest wall. He knew she wouldn't say yes. "Ummm ... yeah. With me..." he said while blushing furiously, "if, that is, you want lunch?"  
  
She smiled. "Sure," she said, very much to Declan's surprise, "I'd like to."  
  
Declan felt himself grinning, too. "Great!" he said, a little more estatically than he had intended. Then he suddenly remembered that he had forgotten ... "Ummm... I forgot to ask ... but what's your name?"  
  
She laughed. Even her laugh was beautiful. "I'm Peggy." she said.  
  
"Peggy ..." Declan repeated. Then, as if suddenly remembering that he was taking her out to lunch, he said, "I know a good place on Diamond Street ... just a few blocks from here ..."  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Peggy looked at Declan from across the table. He had definitely caught her off guard a while ago when he asked her out, but he was just so bashful in a cute way that she couldn't turn him down. Even now, it was obvious that he wasn't quite sure what to say to her. He was probably surprised that she had said yes.  
  
"So what's your major?" she asked, trying to start a conversation.  
  
She had asked the question right when he had just taken a bite of his hamburger. "Anthropology," he said, though barely audible through the food in his mouth. Then, he suddenly realized that he was talking with his mouth full and he quickly swallowed his bite of food, even though it was too late for him to say anything.  
  
Peggy had to stifle a laugh. "Really?" she asked.  
  
He nodded.  
  
"That sounds really interesting." Peggy said, hoping the conversation would go somewhere.  
  
Declan smiled, "It is." he agreed, "So what about you?"  
  
"I'm in psychotherapy." Peggy stated.  
  
"Oh," Declan said, "you're going to be a shrink?"  
  
"Yeah," Peggy smiled, "although I prefer the term, 'psychiatrist.'"  
  
"Oh." Declan's face turned beet red, "Sorry."  
  
Peggy didn't stifle her laughter this time. "It's okay." she said.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
" ... so he just came right up to you and asked you out?" Peggy's roommate, Ellen asked in surprise.  
  
"Yeah," Peggy answered, "just like that."  
  
"And you said yes?" Ellen obviously couldn't get over the fact that her roommate had just gone on a date with a guy she barely even knew.  
  
"Mm-hm." Peggy answered, beginning to get annoyed with Ellen.  
  
"So is he cute?" Ellen asked.  
  
"Ummmm ..." Peggy paused for a second. She wasn't quite sure how to answer that. He *was* cute, but not really in the way that Ellen meant. "Kind of."  
  
"Oh ..." Ellen looked a Peggy inquisitively.  
  
"What?" Peggy asked.  
  
"You're strange." Ellen answered.  
  
"I know."  
  
"Oh, I almost forgot ..." Ellen completely changed the subject. "You got a letter from your Mom." She picked up the letter from the table beside the door and handed it to Peggy.  
  
Peggy tore open the envelope, took the piece of paper out, and began scanning its contents. A look of shock immediately spread across her face. She reached out her hand for the nearest chair and shakily sat herself down.  
  
"Peggy?" Ellen asked, a concerned expression on her face, "Is something wrong?"  
  
Peggy didn't take her eyes off of the letter in her hand, but muttered almost incoherently, "My brother ..."  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Declan's attention was focused on the classroom door. She would be coming any second now.  
  
Sure enough, she soon walked through the door, but what Declan didn't expect was the look on her face. She seemed troubled by something. So troubled, in fact, that she walked right past Declan.  
  
"Peggy!" Declan called after her.  
  
Peggy turned toward the voice calling her name and saw Declan there.  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
Peggy came and sat down in the seat next to Declan. She took a deep breath. "My brother is ... sick." she managed to say.  
  
"Oh ..." Declan said, "I'm sorry."  
  
"I ..." Peggy began. She hesitated for a moment. "I have to go back home."  
  
"What?" Declan voiced the first thing that entered his mind.  
  
"The doctor thinks that it might help if I'm there." Peggy said matter-of-factly.  
  
"So when will you be leaving?" Declan asked.  
  
"First thing tomorrow morning," Peggy answered, the expression on her face becoming, if possible, even sadder than before.  
  
"But ... you'll be coming back soon, right?" Declan asked, this time sounding like he wasn't quite sure.  
  
"I ..." Peggy trailed off. For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to tell him right away, but she gathered her courage and said, "I probably won't be coming back."  
  
The words struck Declan like a metal beam. She wasn't coming back? Did this mean that he would never see her again?  
  
Peggy sensed his shock, "I'm sorry ..." she started.  
  
"No, don't be sorry." Declan cut her off, "It's not your fault."  
  
"I know, I just wish that ..." she trailed off.  
  
"What?" Declan asked, concern showing through his brown eyes.  
  
Peggy opened her mouth to say something, but she realized that the lecture was starting. She quickly got her notebook out and started writing down notes.  
  
Declan wasn't quite sure what to think. Just yesterday he had been on top of the world. He had finally gotten up the courage to ask her out and she said yes ... and now *this*. He knew he was being selfish to want her to stay, but he couldn't help it. He knew he wasn't actually going to ask her to stay. He could never do that.  
  
Peggy wasn't herself today. She didn't have any arguments with Dr. Hess. Instead, she spent the whole time staring down at the notebook in front of her. It was almost like she was trying to take her mind of something.  
  
Declan wished that he could help her, but he had no idea what to do. At the moment, he could only sit there in the seat next to her and watch her scribble notes.  
  
Then, the idea came to him, and just in time, because the lecture was about to end.  
  
"So ..." he hesitated for a moment, "do you want to go out to lunch again today? Or ..."  
  
"I can't," Peggy said, "I have to pack up and get ready to leave."  
  
"Oh." Declan was disappointed, but not defeated. As Peggy left the classroom, Declan saw someone he'd seen Peggy talking to before.  
  
"Hey, wait a second!" he called after her. She turned around. "You're a friend of Peggy's, right?" he asked as he caught up to her.  
  
"Yeah," she said, wondering where this was going, "I'm her roommate."  
  
"I was kinda wondering if you could help me out ..."  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Peggy's alarm clock went off at six in the morning. She woke up and quickly turned it off. Then she suddenly realized what was happening that day and she groaned and laid back down in bed. She didn't want to leave.  
  
But, she reasoned as she decisively pulled herself out of bed, she had to.  
  
All her bags had been packed the evening before and now all she had to do was take a shower, get ready, and go out the door.  
  
It didn't take her long to finish getting ready, and she was soon sitting in a chair waiting for seven o'clock to come because that's when her taxi would come to take her to the airport.  
  
She hadn't been waiting long when Ellen came in from outside.  
  
"What are you ... shouldn't you be asleep?" Peggy asked in surprise.  
  
"Come outside, Peg," she said.  
  
"What?" Peggy asked, still in surprise.  
  
"Just come on!" she persisted.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Do I have to explain *everything*?" Ellen asked in exasperation. She grabbed Peggy by the hand and led her outside.  
  
If Peggy had been surprised before, it was nothing compared to this. Maybe it wasn't the hugest gesture in the world, but it was enough to put Peggy on the brink of tears.  
  
Declan was standing there, right in front of her, and he had a bouquet of yellow roses in his hand. He was his usual self ... messy hair, wrinkled clothes, cockeyed glasses ... but that made it all the more charming.  
  
"I'll just ... go inside now ..." Ellen said as she did just that.  
  
There was a silence for a moment, then Declan was the first to speak. "I just thought I'd say goodbye." he said as he handed her the roses.  
  
"How did you ...?" she couldn't finish the question because her throat became choked up.  
  
"Your friend told me you liked yellow roses." he said.  
  
Peggy couldn't say anything. All she could do was throw her arms around his neck.  
  
Declan seemed a little surprised at first, but he wrapped his arms around her and they stayed there for a moment, neither of them wanting to leave.  
  
Peggy saw the taxi pull in to the curb and she reluctantly pulled away. "I have to go." she said.  
  
"I'll help you with your stuff." Declan offered.  
  
"Thanks." Peggy forced a smile as she opened the door.  
  
Between Declan and Peggy they soon had all of Peggy's things stowed away inside the trunk of the taxi.  
  
Peggy opened the door to enter the back seat of the taxi, but then turned to face Declan. "I'll miss you." she said, tears welling up in her eyes.  
  
"I'll miss you, too." Declan said.  
  
"Thanks for the flowers." Peggy said for lack of anything better to say.  
  
Declan shrugged, obviously saying 'It was nothing.'  
  
Then Peggy did something she hadn't expected herself to do. She kissed him. She had somehow held back her tears until this moment, but now they flowed freely from her eyes.  
  
"Good-bye, Peggy." Declan whispered into her ear.  
  
She was, once again, at a loss for words. All she could do was nod and force a weak smile as she lowered herself into the taxi, letting Declan close the door for her.  
  
The taxi pulled out into the street and Peggy looked back to find Declan waving to her. Somewhere inside her, behind her tears, there was a gut feeling that she would see him again someday, and that made her feel better.  
  
  
Did you like it? I probably could have made it in two parts ('cause it's kinda long) but I decided that since I got the whole thing done anyway, I'd just post the whole thing at the same time. Of course, I would have had a lot more fun if I'd had a cliffhanger in there ;) 


End file.
